Ebay Item Lost in Post - Royal Mail

Eugene's_Pal

Hi Guys,

Not sure this is the right section for my question but here goes.

In December 2007 I sold my old phone and sent it with Royal Mail 1st Class Recorded. The item never arrived and the tracking number showed as unavailable on the RM website.

I sent of a claim in early Jan and haven't heard anything back. I'm a bit worried because I just sent the claim to the freepost address without proof of posting (of the claim, not the phone). I included the original Recorded delivery receipt with the claim. How long do these things normally take? Has anyone got any experience of these things?

I do have a colour scan of the original Recorded delivery receipt.

We_Laugh_Indoors

I have had a problem around 6 months ago with claiming back from recorded deliverys going lost. i sent it to the same address you posted and never heard anything from them again.

Are there any any help sections on the royal mail site that may give you a number to call or something?

soolin

Claims are slow but I dont know if I am unlucky but on quite a few occasions when I've queried the delay they claim never to have received my claim! I always keep a copy of all my documents and re send and make it clear I am sending copies as the originals were apparently also lost in the post.

My last couple of claims have also taken 7 weeks to be resolved as well.

Can I just clarify though, your phone was nder £34 wasn't it as I note you only used recorded.

Eugene's_Pal

soolin wrote: »

My last couple of claims have also taken 7 weeks to be resolved as well.

Can I just clarify though, your phone was nder £34 wasn't it as I note you only used recorded.

Yes my item sold for just over £20. So do you mean it took 7 weeks from the time you sent off your form till you received any sort of acknowledgement?

soolin

Eugene's_Pal wrote: »

Yes my item sold for just over £20. So do you mean it took 7 weeks from the time you sent off your form till you received any sort of acknowledgement?

Yep, item lost in October, I couldn't start my claim until November and I finally got my cheque at end of january. I had no other ackowledgement orontact,just the cheque.

I sent in everything though all my paypal refund statements, the original ebay auction page and my certificate of posting (this was not recorded). I also got back the item cost plus the actual postage I paid.

The claim before that took even longer but then it was a non UK one.I think that was aprox 4 months from the time the item was sent to actually getting a refund cheque and again I got item cost plus actual postage paid.

boglin

I'm going through the same process with an overseas package sent by International Signed For Air Mail. I was never able to track that package after it went in the 'system'.

I've sent off all the relevant forms to Royal Mail and even paid to send the claim by Recorded Delivery - guess what? I can't track that package either.

Luckily I photocopied all the forms before mailing them but I am beginning to think that the only way to make sure they arrive is to drive them there myself and personally hand them to the relevant member of staff (with a photo to record the moment of course).

Do you think that Royal Mail might have a landfill site somewhere?! I always put my return address on everything I send so why is it never returned to me?

soolin

I must say that whenever the Royal Mail tell me that they have no record of my claim they never seem surprised. I imagine it is quite common especially for overseas claims whch appear to be dealt with in more than one centre and get shipped around in house.

Shaz15_2

I posted a parcel last month via 'international signed for' mail and it hasn't been delivered or been sent back to me. Now I'm scared to send my original proof of postings with the claim from in case they lose those ! Should I get certified photocopies of these reciepts ? Should I send the claim form by Recorded Delivery ?
Now I wish I had flown over and delivered them myself !

xdaisyx

Shaz15 wrote: »

I posted a parcel last month via 'international signed for' mail and it hasn't been delivered or been sent back to me. Now I'm scared to send my original proof of postings with the claim from in case they lose those ! Should I get certified photocopies of these reciepts ? Should I send the claim form by Recorded Delivery ?
Now I wish I had flown over and delivered them myself !

You need to send the original proof of posting and receipts in (as it states on the claim form, they do not accept photocopies but advise you to take them and keep them for yourself...or them) or it will just be sent back to you, delaying the process even further.

Make sure you leave it over 25 working days before submitting a claim for europe (if its airmail)...AND more importantly, make sure you date it after these 20 days....i.e posted 01/02/08, signed and dated after 26/02/08...or again it will be sent back to you.

If its an International claim, make sure it is sent to the freepost address with the ST postcode and not PL. (Stoke not Plymouth) and tbh sending it recorded is a bit redundent as all that will proove is if its been received, even if it hasnt theres no compensation or anything you can do.

xdaisyx

soolin wrote: »

I must say that whenever the Royal Mail tell me that they have no record of my claim they never seem surprised. I imagine it is quite common especially for overseas claims whch appear to be dealt with in more than one centre and get shipped around in house.

International is dealt with at one place, provided of course its sent to the right place initially.

Plymouth deal with all Inland mail, Stoke on Trent deal with International, however, some get sent to the wrong freepost address and end up in the wrong places and need to be forwarded on.

andytran

Im not sure what is going on with RM nowadays?

I frequently post ebay parcels around the UK. After having a few "none deliveries" on items sent first class, Ive started sending anything worth more than £5 by signed for recorded delivery.

Unfortunately, in the past month, two out of three signed for parcels have "dissappeared" and cannot be tracked online. However, around a dozen items sent standard first class (not recorded) have all arrived.

Seems to me that sending an item "signed for" highlights the fact that the item is potentially of value to those dishonest, usually "temp" posties.

NO, IM NOT TARRING THEM ALL WITH THE SAME BRUSH - Without a doubt there are excellent postal workers out there, but the RM, like the majority of UK companies, is going rapidly downhill. Customer Service means very little to them - the Mail used to carry kudos in Britains history...not any more.

Andy